A 16-year-old boy was denied bail Thursday after he was charged with beating his mother to death with a baseball bat, then using the bat to assault his father. The teen was also ordered to have no contact with his father.

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Baltimore County police spokesman Bill Toohey said Lewin Carlton Powell III was charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the death of his mother, Donna Rosemarie Campbell-Powell, 39, who was found dead Wednesday morning by police and co-workers at her home in the 1600 block of Alston Road in the Thornleigh community.

The teen was also charged with attempted murder in the attack on his father.

The younger Powell confessed to police that he had killed his mother after they got into an argument Tuesday afternoon about his performance at McDonogh School, Toohey said.

"That escalated to a fight where he ended up hitting his mother, physically with his hand, and then beating her over the head with a baseball bat until he killed her," Toohey told 11 News.

Officials said they found Campbell-Powell after co-workers called police Wednesday when she didn't show up for work.

"A couple of her co-workers came. They found the door locked and they couldn't get in so they called police. Officers came, went in and found the victim inside dead," Toohey said.

Powell hid his mother's body in the garage, Toohey said. Powell's father, who works a night shift, came home around midnight and fell asleep on a sofa, unaware of the violence that had occurred Tuesday, the spokesman said.

The elder Powell woke up Wednesday morning when his son started beating him about the head with a baseball bat, Toohey said. During the struggle that ensued, the younger Powell admitted to killing his mother, the spokesman said.

The elder Powell was able to talk the youth out of killing him, according to police. He stalled his son and was able to get out of the house when police arrived around 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Officials said that police and the co-workers got to the home and walked around the house to find the father and son in the yard.

The elder Powell was "bleeding from significant wounds to the head," and told police, "Thank God you're here; my son killed my wife," according to the documents.

The elder Powell was taken to Sinai Hospital; the younger Powell was taken to police headquarters were he is being held without bail.

Campbell-Powell's co-workers remembered the mother Thursday for her impeccable style of dress, her eloquent speech and her worth ethic and punctuality.

A supervisor in the Baltimore County office of Budget and Finance said that Campbell-Powell always arrived to work by 7:45 a.m., and if she were running just five minutes late, she would call.

Teen Remembered As Bright, Non-Violent

Lewin Carlton Powell III attends Mcdonogh School, a coeducational day and boarding school in Owings Mills, and was in good standing there. It has about 1,300 students from kindergarten through 12th grade.

School spokeswoman Lynn McKain said school officials were not aware he was at risk. McKain said Powell was taking a difficult course load that included some honors and advanced placement classes.

Powell was part of the school's jazz band and had previously played baseball, but was not on the team this season.

Retired first-grade teacher Joann Hutchinson, who taught Lewin Powell III, recalled the teen as one of the brightest and most promising students she ever taught.

"That's the only kid I ever remember saying, 'You will be my future president,'" Hutchinson said.

"It was not a screwed up family. This was a cultured, educated family who wanted the best for their kid," Hutchinson said. "I do not believe that this child had a negative, mean bone in his body. When I heard this, I said, 'He cracked. Oh my God, he cracked.'"

Hutchinson said she wonders if the teen felt pushed too far to stand out.

"Anything less than perfect is not good enough, and that's what I think happened here," she said.

"Establishing a family's relationship, communication and healthy environment and all that -- those are the main issues that need to be addressed," he said. "The external pressures are tremendous for competition, for possessions, a car."

"We are stressing our kids out to the point that they can't handle it. When they crack, we say, 'What did we do wrong?'" Hutchinson said.

Neighbor 'Not Totally Surprised' By Fatal Beating

A next-door neighbor said he was "not totally surprised" by the fatal bat beating.

Paul Kozloski said that Campbell-Powell "berrated" her son constantly. He said the only time the teenager was happy was when he came over to his house.

Kozloski said his 17-year-old daughter, Maggie, had played basketball with Powell and other neighborhood children when they were younger, but that Powell had grown shy and withdrawn in the last couple of years.

Kozloski said he frequently heard Campbell-Powell yelling at her son about trivial things such as the way he cut the grass.

Kozloski, a former probation officer, said he had seen similar psychological abuse in hundreds of homes.

"I imagine he's at peace now," Kozloski said of Powell, his eyes welling with tears. "He was never violent. Never."

The incident represents the second time in 2008 in Baltimore County that a teen is accused of killing a parent.